Wrath of the Black Flame
by Aulianas
Summary: First fanfic: The Prophets are dead, the Flood, broken. The Human and Elite alliance seems victorius at last. But what happens when they find a deadly secret in an uncharted system? Can they defeat this new threat? Slightly AU, Rated T to be safe.
1. Prologue: Journey

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, nor do I own any of the Halo characters appearing in this fanfic, except the OCs (or would an Original Race be OR?).

This fanfic is my first, and is going to be slightly AU, as two things in Halo 3 piss me off. For those of you who have played, and beat, Halo 3, they will be obvious within the first few chapters. If you have yet to beat said game, I suggest you do so. For those of you who could guess from my not-so-subtle hint up top, the will have a new species in it, one that will appear in many of my stories. I'll try to stay as "In character" as possible. For example, MC will not hug a Grunt. Please, review, and if you must criticize my work, mention what I did wrong, so I might not make the same mistake in the future.

Wrath of the Black Flame

Part I

Discovery

John, the SPARTAN-117, looked at the monitor in the cruiser 'observation deck.' He was aboard an Elite vessel, the _Sword of Holy Revenge. _The Elites had refitted the ship for a more diplomatic approach than blowing up the human ships. Now that the two races were allied, such actions were considered a bit less than considerate. As it had been adapted, the Ship Master in charge had, rather reluctantly, decided to make it more 'human-friendly,' and tried to make it more like a human ship.

He found that, while the Elites were beginning to learn about the humans' aesthetic side, they still had trouble adapting. These Elite observation decks were a good example: like the Elites' vessels' bridges, they were set into the ship, with any view of space seen through a monitor, to better protect the captain and his crew, as opposed to a human vessel, where they were often at the front edge of a ship, to allow the captain, or observer, to actually see space with their own eyes, rather than through a screen.

"Chief! There you are. Captain wants you on the bridge, seems like the ship's about to jump back into normal space, wants you there for the meeting with the Arbiter."

Sergeant Major Avery Johnson stepped out of the grav lift that the Elites used as an elevator. "She says full armor, wants you lookin' your best. Hell, she even has me in my white dress uniform."

John took one last look at the massive screen, then walked over to the lift. He usually wore his full set of armor around the Elites. They might be allies, but he had seen too many friends and planets fall to them to ever truthfully be at ease in an Elite ship. The memories of _Truth and Reconciliation_ didn't help, either. He wondered briefly how the Arbiter felt. In order to 'facilitate diplomatic relations and express the cultures of both species,' as the bureaucrats put it, John was to travel in an Elite for the better part of a year, and the Arbiter was to travel in a human ship. The real reason behind this was, the scientists aboard the vessel were examining the Covenant technology. The Elites apparently had not realized this, why else would they allow such spies on board? Of course, why had the brass agreed to let the Arbiter on a human ship? None of this made any sense, and the thought made him uneasy.

Light-years across the void of space, the Arbiter felt much the same. He, too, was at an observatory platform, and felt exposed and vulnerable, with only glass between him and certain death.

How the humans found this to be relaxing, he did not know.

Still, he did have to admit that the direct view of space, without the use of a terminal, was strangely fascinating. On a Sangheli ship, he would only view space through a targeting terminal, attempting to blow any enemy vessel into relatively small bits of plasma-fried metal and glass. Without the medium of a terminal, and without the nervousness that accompanied him in space battles, he found he could actually contemplate the distance, and see the stars and planets as what they were, instead of annoying little obstacles preventing him from maneuvering his ship to its full potential.

He heard the steady tread of hooves behind him, and turned to see the Ship Master piloting this vessel, one Tala 'Manalaree. The Ship Master was newly promoted, unsure of himself, but the Arbiter could see great potential in him. Unfortunately, Tala was a member of the steadily growing group of Elites who revered, almost worshiped him, and had an annoying habit of bowing, as he was doing now.

"Honored Arbiter, we are about to jump back into... what did the human call it? Real Space? Whatever, we are about to leave this... Bah, these human terminologies are crude and ungainly! We are about to reach the system. I thought that you would wish to be on the 'span,' or whatever the humans call that deathtrap, to meet the Ship Master and Commander when we arrived."

The Arbiter nodded. "'Manalaree, please, stop bowing. I am not 'honored,' nor do I desire your reverence. I shall head to the bridge soon, and I shall meet Keyes and her crew when we jump out of Slipspace." He made sure to put a decent amount of emphasis on the proper terms.

The Arbiter took one last look out the observation window, feeling uneasy. He always did in space, where a single powered down Jiralhanae ship could ambush and destroy a vessel before anyone could know. He was once a Fleet Master, but even then, he still disliked space battle.

But, as soon as the Arbiter and the Chief jumped in-system, their uneasiness would be the least of their problems.


	2. Chapter I: Surprise!

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, nor any of the Halo characters. I do, however own all the three ORs.

Author's Note: The OR has two languages, both belonging to a different group: Aulianas Mortis and his army speak -badly translated- Latin, and Darakathos's army speak an unnamed language, which seems clipped, and unusually short. This is because most of the language is subtle body movement, and tone. You may also notice that a large amount of words are written with no translation given. This is because I am trying to write this from each char's perspective, for example, a Titan would know what dakarys is, and would give as little explanation as we do the word donut. You might also note that they know certain references, such as 'what the hell.' This will be explained later. The Crour Titans have no language as they communicate semi-telepathically. And by beating one another over the head.

Pronunciation/translation:

Aulianas (Awl-Ee-ON-Us), "Titan Lord" or "trusted commander", usually accompanied by a subtle bow when spoken by anyone of a lesser 'rank'.

Darakathos (Dahra-KATH-Os), literally translated, means Blackfire, is my main OC for the OR.

Rakithas (RACK-Ith-Us), means Blade in the Night, and is Darakathos's assistant.

Anyway, sorry for the long note, on to the story!

Chapter I

Surprise!

Aulianas Darakathos, 'leader' of the Titans, gazed out into the void of space. He felt a little excited. He always felt excited in a war.

He turned away from the window of his flagship, the fortress-dreadnought _Rakothan Darakathos_. He dislike the name, which translated into Blade of Darakathos, but it was tradition to name the millenia-old vessel after the current Aulianas. Of course, they had never had another Aulianas, so he had his suspicions about that 'tradition.'

He walked down a path, sidestepping a Blood Golem swinging a sikgitas at his head, and drove his fist straight through the seal in the center of it's chest, dissolving it. He then continued on his way, ducking the shards of dakarys as he strode through a pack of Blackfire Golems and a swarm of Bloodfiends beating each other to hell and back. In the case of the Bloodfiends, that was a pretty bad pun.

He had to dodge 12 attacks, 8 Blood Golems, 5 swarms of Bloodfiends, 3 assassination attempts, and a partridge in a pear tree. He also had to destroy the Blood Golem who threw it at him.

And the war hadn't even started yet.

He was a bit distracted by planning how to find and beat the crazy little dakat who kept sending these Titan Crour troops to his stronghold, so he was a bit surprised when a pair of odd looking ships, one purple, the other grey, suddenly disengaged from Slipspace right outside the war room observatory window.

The Arbiter and the Master Chief were just as surprised to jump into an uncharted system, and see nothing but a giant stone wall on their bridge view-screens.

Sergeant Johnson said exactly what everyone was thinking. "What the f-"

He didn't get to finish his rather eloquent sentence, because at that exact moment the blood-crazed little dakat who had been teleporting Blood Golems and Bloodfiends into the _Rakothan_ had decided to ambush the Aulianas in his war-room.

He was off by a couple hundred... thousand... okay, million miles.

He was drunk at the time.

He then panicked and the Syrassaaan, leader-tyrant of the Crour Titans, beheaded him for being incompetent. He then made a bad pun about losing his head, so the Syrassaaan beat him to a bloody pulp. It was bad enough that Symossi, the dakat in question, had already been killed, destroyed, reanimated, and killed again several dozen times. That week. By the Syrassaaan himself. Now he had to reattach his head and get his arm to bend the right way.

But the point is, the Master Chief, who was still rather surprised about the wall, found himself beating down a small army of large burly creatures, who looked, and smelled, like Brutes, but were made out of blood and had an odd symbol on their chests.

The Arbiter had the same problem, except for a small difference. He had an energy blade, and was surrounded by Elites, most of whom also had said blades.

Also, for some strange reason, Symossi had teleported a large amount of rabbits into the war-room of Aulianas Darakathos.

Darakathos sighed. "Why do they keep that moron around?"

Rakithas, his second in command, thought for a moment, recalling everything his informants had told him.

"That would be because Syrassaaan already killed all of the others for being incompetent."

"Well, what about that one, the one who pulled off that massive raid? You know, Syla something or other," Darakathos replied.

"Eh. Syras killed him for sleeping with his daughter."

Darakathos was silent for a moment. "Syras doesn't have a daughter."

"Since when have silly things like facts ever stopped Syras?"

Darakathos nodded his head. It was true, ever since Syras found the Crour artifact and split his faction off, he had been a little unbalanced.

Okay, so he was completely and totally nuts.

That is beside the point. Okay, so what if it is the point!

Meanwhile, the Arbiter had cleared his bridge of the Blood Golems, but John was having a bit more difficulty.

It might have helped that, while the Arbiter was surrounded by energy sword-wielding fanatics willing to die at his command, John wasn't nearly as lucky.

He was currently shouting at a marine for firing a rocket launcher at close quarters in a confined space, and somehow managing to miss. He then chucked a grenade into a Blood Golem and watched as it exploded.

"That is how you blow something up, marine."

Suddenly, the comms screen turned on to show a tall humanoid, in a cloak with a hood that left it's face hidden in shadow. It started speaking, but they couldn't make sense of a single word it was saying.

Is this thing on? You're sure? Well how the hell am I supp- Oh. Greetings, whomever the hell you are. I am Aulianas Darakathos. You have entered the territory of the Blackfire Titans. Be warned, we are at war with another group of Titans calling themselves Blood Titans. Pretty much, stay away, don't interfere, you have 3 days to back off before we start blowing you up, your insurance expires in a week, and are you sure you are completely happy with your long-distance provider. Seriously, how the hell are they supposed to know Kilanal!? Why don't I start speaking bloody Latin for crying out loud? 

sigh, fine, Ill bloody try it. 

"Abyssus. Ego sum Aulianas Darakathos. Quisnam es vos quod quare es vos hic? Quare es ullus nostrum hic? Quare sum Ego specto is laboro? Quare sum Ego etiam sermo si vos dont vel teneo quis Im sententia?"

John might not have known Latin, but a certain AI that traveled around in his helmet did.

"Abyssus. Ego sum molior Cortana. Nos puto ut is locus eram inhabitabilis. Nos apologize pro ullus trespass."

"What in the nine hells?!? You speak Latin?"

"You speak English?"

"Well. This is beginning to get... interesting"

Author's End Note: This one was a bit longer, as I attempted to make up for how short the previous chapter was. I also decided, as you may have noticed, that it just isn't worth it if I can't add humor. The ORs were meant to appear in a story I was going to post to fiction-press, but I decided to introduce them here. Please, review, and remember that this while this is my first time, you really shouldn't hold back. If I screwed up, I want to know, please. Oh, and flame if you want, but they'll just go to waste.

I also apologize for how badly the Latin is translated. I dont know Latin. I want to, but for now I have to run it through a translation website.


	3. Chapter II: Unease

A/N: I am not going to reveal the full origin of the Titans, as I plan on it being a bit of a surprise. If you pay attention, and follow the clues, you might just see exactly what I am planning, but I hope it is unique enough that it wont be too obvious. I am going to reveal a bit at a time, throughout the stories I write (type, whatever). As you can probably guess, I do not plan on making a single fanfic. I will make several, in different categories, and will say at the end of each story what category I am planning next. For instance, after this I may do a fic concerning Final Fantasy, possibly Mass Effect, this will be decided at a later date. I apologize for any lack of quality in this fanfic, but please remember that this is my first, and I have been writing this late a t night, and I haven't been getting anything approaching how much sleep I should be.

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo. Unfortunate, I know, but I do not own it.

Actually, knowing me, Id accidentally drive it into the ground. So, maybe its a bit fortunate.

Alright, Ive made my usually unintentionally long A/N, so...

Wrath of the Black Flame

Chapter II

Unease

Darakathos was... uneasy. When Rakithas had hacked into the vessel's comms systems, he had only seen this 'Master Chief.' He had not seen the Elites at all, they were told of the message by the 'Chief's' vessel.

He had not seen the Humans.

And now they were aboard his ship. They were in his war-room. At least this SPARTAN-human could be trusted to be untrustworthy. Obviously, he was superior in some way to the other humans, maybe even their leader. Otherwise, why would they waste such armor and augmentation as was obvious in this SPARTAN? Humans betrayed. It was in their genetic code, their culture. Greed, avarice, wrath, envy. Foolishness. He was a bit more at ease with a predictable fool than a fool as unpredictable as a human.

He looked at them, and then looked at the Elites.

He had fought them twice before. They were a worthy foe. They had burnt many human planets into balls of irradiated glass, and yet, the humans were now _allied _with them! He sighed. He knew only one thing that could stop his change, that could make him take something seriously. Humans.

(About the 'change': all Titans have some kind of personality quirk, brought about by their origin. Darakathos's is that he can never take anything seriously. He just doesn't care enough to do so.)

Humans could not be trusted. Ever. They had already done so much.

But, for now, he had to go along with them.

The Arbiter was... uneasy. When Cortana had sent him a translated recording of the message, he had been shocked. This 'Aulianas' was a Titan!

He had heard of the Titans before.

They were not common knowledge. The Covenant had encountered them twice before, and attempted to force them to join their ranks. Both times, an entire fleet had been sent.

Both times, only a single ship had returned, broken and defeated. The comm logs had revealed that the entire fleet had been annihilated, and that they had boarded the surviving ship. They had slain every last Sangheili, Grunt (I apologize, I do not know the Covenant word for Grunt), even the Lekgolo. They had destroyed the weapons, the shields, and finally the life support. Then, they had triggered the engines, and recorded three messages on the comms systems. The first was a recording of a single alien- taller than an Sangheili but almost skeletally thin, wearing a hooded cloak so black, it seemed that it was swallowing the light- taking on a pair of Lekgolo, in close combat, barehanded.

The Titan won.

He taunted the Lekgolo the entire time, feinting towards one, even standing on it's shield, and punching the chestplate of his bond-brother. As he punched the Lekgolo, its armor dented. It was wearing thick plate armor, but the Titan-creature dented it with a single punch. By the time the Titan had finished, the Lekgolos' armor had been crushed in, their fuel rod cannons broken, and their shields splintered.

The second was the Fleet Master's final words. Both times, it had been an incoherent scream. He had to give the Titans one thing. They knew how to scare.

The third message was a log. The Aulianas had left a warning. Leave this place alone. Come and die. It was their choice. Oh, and that whomever parked a cruiser in his spot, it has been impounded until further notice.

That last part never made sense to the Prophets, and the Sangheili were still trying to figure out what he was talking about. But, that didn't really matter.

The Arbiter had reviewed that tape many times, to try to figure out how the destroyed an entire fleet. Twice.

And today, he had jumped into a system, expecting nothing more than to meet some allies and found a colony. Instead, he had found a gigantic fortress powerful enough to destroy a small moon, and he was now staring at the Titan from the video, this 'Aulianas.' Obviously, it was not the same Titan, but if anything could defeat a pair of Hunters in melee combat, without even a trace of fear...

He did not want these aliens as his enemies.

John was... uneasy. The humans and Elites had come to the system, believing it to be uninhabited. Probes and long-range scans had revealed a world in the system to be capable of bearing life, and so the Elites and humans, to seal their alliance and bring the two species closer together, had intended to colonize the planet, which they had named Prosperity.

The Elites had not liked the name very much, but in light of the fact that the Elites had glassed Reach, Harvest, and a long list of other planets, they had decided that maybe the humans should get to name the planet.

Instead of this new planet, and humanity's new hope for colonization, they had found a species named after ancient Greek deities, been jumped by hellspawn, found out that this new species spoke Latin and English, was in the middle of a civil war, and had enough firepower in a space castle to blow up the moon.

He really, really did not like surprises. In his line of work, they tended to be a bit fatal.

When Keyes and Johnson had come aboard the space-castle-fortress-cannon, they were greeted with distrust. The Titans seemed to be watching them constantly, and the tension between them was almost thick enough to cut. They seemed to be a little more at ease with him, but he had not removed his helmet or armor since leaving the ship. It was possible that they did not know he was human.

For whatever reason, they seemed more willing to speak to him than Keyes or Johnson...

They had told him what was going on. It was not pretty.

It appeared that Aulianas Darakathos was the leader of a species known as the Blackfire Titans. They were allied with the Necris Titans, and constantly fought. They thought of war as a game of some kind. They had no rank, and even an Aulianas had about as much authority as a piece of rock. Aulianas was translated as 'trusted leader,' a bit like an advisor. He suggested to the Titans how to do things, how to fight, and where, but he did not give orders. Each individual Titan made his own choice, and each individual Titan was held accountable for those choices. If a Titan is found to be talented in strategy, and was liked amongst the crew, he was made the Aulianas. A Trusted Leader. If one had great prowess in battle, he was made a Rakithas. A Blade in the Night.

They were at war with a branch of former Blackfires that had split off after finding some lost tech. Naturally, the Titans did not appreciate this, and the fact that the new 'Cruor Titans' were constantly attacking them did not help.

Cortana had gone off to look around in their files, she believed that she would not be detected. He trusted her discretion, but was worried about how the aliens would react if they found a construct in their computer files.

Cortana was not uneasy. She was amazed. She had found the main computer systems for the _Rakothan. _They were... familiar. She had spent several seconds pondering this, searching for where she had seen this before.

She was unable to find a reason, until she had run a comparison of the human security system, and Forerunner computer technology.

What she found was incredible.

The Titan's computer systems contained elements of both Forerunner, and human computer tech. The Forerunner technology was obviously salvaged, and it appeared that they had somehow adapted it to work in their system. They had even managed to dredge up long-forgotten files, including information about the Halo rings!

But, the human part was harder to explain. The files and systems that they used seemed to be based off of human organization, and it was next to impossible for it to be a coincidence. There was only one plausible excuse.

Then, she saw that a small portion, a set of documents, was locked. This seemed to be especially protected, and there could only be one reason.

The files inside were to be seen by none but the Aulianas himself.

She tried to open them, but the security was unusually tough. She tried to hack in through the password protection, but she could find no match at all. She could not open the files. But, she could copy the segment and work on it later.

Besides, she had found something amazing. Judging from how the Titans organized their systems...

They had encountered humanity before.


	4. Chapter III: Confusion

A/N: I apologize for how long it has been since I last updated. I have lacked the time to type these fics, and lost inspiration for a short time. About the Titans' origins: I'll give you a hint. It's going to be horribly complicated. And involve ancient civilizations. Also, if anyone can actually guess the true origin of the Titans before I reveal it, send me a message and I will mention you on the page that I finally reveal their origin. It will probably be in another fic, and it will definitely have to be done before or during the Warhammer 40k fic I have planned.

Also, the language of the Blackfire Titans is extremely simple, but I had not actually planned any language for them when I made the first page. As such, the language is technically 'fake,' and I will edit it later, when I actually have a full language developed. When I edit them, I will also change many of the errors I have found/been told about.

Alright, I have made my unintentionally long Author's Note. Seriously, though, I don't plan for these to be horribly long, but they are.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Halo. I also do not own Warhammer 40K. Nor do I own Star Wars, but Kanos's name was not intentional. I named one of my chars that, and only later realized where it was from.

Also, two warnings:

I am currently suffering from both lack of sleep and minor blood loss, and have had 3 Monster energy drinks in the past 2 days. As you can probably guess, Im a little... off.

The Titan fanfic stories will not be in chronological order. In fact, they won't be in _any_ form of logical order, at all.

Anyway, on to the fic!

Wrath of the Black Flame

Chapter III

Confusion

"Chief."

John heard Cortana speak, but something seemed odd about her tone. She seemed awed.

The last time Cortana seemed awed, John had nearly killed every living thing in the galaxy with Halo, believing it to be a bit less powerful.

Needless to say, he didn't like it when Cortana sounded awed.

"Cortana?" He asked.

"Chief, you need to see this. It's the Titans... I think I've found why they don't like Johnson and the others." She paused for a moment.

"They've encountered humanity before."

John was startled. "They can't have," he subvocalized, "records have remained intact since humanity first took to space. These Titans would have been recorded."

"Unless the UNSC wanted to keep them a secret. But if they did, why would they send a colonization fleet straight to them? I don't know when, where, or even how they encountered humanity, but they did. I've been in their files. They have a system based loosely on Forerunner, Covenant... and Human tech. Judging by the Arbiter's reaction when he first saw Darakathos, he's seen him before. That explains the Covenant tech."

"And there may be Forerunner ruins on the planet. Maybe they got the Human tech from salvage." John said, but he didn't sound completely convinced.

"We are going to have to watch them closely."

-----------------------------

Darakathos, Aulianas of the Dark Titans, looked across the table, directly at the green-clad one, the one that must have been their leader.

"Darakathos."

"Yes, Kanos?"

"The SPARTAN has an AI. It was in the system. It took a look at the Tier 6 information, and left in amazement. It seemed to be surprised at something in our system. I have checked her logs. She is a good hacker, but she doesn't exactly have our many years of experience. What she was amazed at was not any of the intel, it was something about the system itself."

"Go on."

"I took a look in their files. There's no mention of us, except the Greek legends."

"Greek?"

"You know, those humans on Earth. Thought we were gods of some kind."

"Ah, yes. How could they have no mention of us? The Second Betrayal may not have come from this group, but the First happened at a Nexus Point."

(And no, I am not going to explain what a Nexus Point is, or what they are discussing concerning location. That will come later.)

"It is possible that it was a gov cover-up. In the Second Betrayal, did you see any civilians?"

"No. Now that you mention it, all that we met with were people from the military. Generals, a few scientists, nothing low rank or truly civilian."

"Exactly. If the gov didn't want anyone to know about us, they didn't know about us."

"Hm. This explains why they haven't run in fear by now. The Third betrayal, we wiped out a full Chapter."

"That is another thing," Kanos said. "I took a look at the dates. It is possible that the last Gate we went through may have brought us through time, again."

Darakathos sighed. "When are we?"

"2258. Just before the Second Betrayal."

----------------------------------------------------

Syrassaaan leaned back in his throne, content for the moment.

He had finally done it. An immense achievement. His name would be known for all eternity for this! All would bow at his feet!

He had finally built a pyramid of playing cards!

Oh, and he had also changed the destination of the Gate to just before the Second Betrayal Nexus, so that he could exploit the Blackfire Pretender's moment of weakness. But that was nothing compared to this!

It stood an amazing 5 cards tall, with 10 cards at the base!

He then laughed maniacally and curled up into the fetal position and fell asleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The Arbiter wandered around the fortress-ship. It had been a full day after the meeting, and he decided to take a closer look at his surroundings. If he had to fight here, he wanted to know the layout of the ship.

A Sangheili officer ran up to him, and knelt.

The Arbiter recognized him. It was Tero Manalar, a minor Ship Master, and a bit of a recluse. His ship had jumped in-system soon after theirs, in response to the report the Arbiter had sent.

He did not like the Elite, nor did he like his crew. They were all recluses, and seemed almost berserk, even in a space battle.

If Manalar had sent him, then he must be needed immediately.

"Arbiter, the Titan has asked that you and the... humans... some to the meeting room. He says that he wants to discuss some things."

He said the word with disgust. Manalar had never been a supporter of the alliance with the humans, who had once been one of their most hated enemies.

The Arbiter sighed. He had fought beside them long enough to know that, even if they were physically, and culturally inferior to the Sangheili, there was a reason that the Covenant had almost never won a ground battle against the humans. They had numbers, and, surprisingly, skill. They also seemed to adapt to every strategy, weapon, and even armor the Covenant could throw at them.

The Arbiter had no use, nor patience for unwarranted bigotry.

He dismissed Manalar and began the long path to the war-room.

Only later did he wonder just how Manalar knew where he was.

By then, it was too late.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manalar watched the Arbiter's retreating back, and smiled. All was falling into place. The Master would be pleased.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: And there you have it. Treachery, plot, and general confusion. As I have said before, pay attention to the dialogue between Darakathos and the other Titans. I leave clues as to the Titans' past in most conversations.

Also, as for the people who have wondered what Darakathos looks like, I will post a set of instructions in my bio. Follow them to see what I imagine my chars to look like. If you have any suggestions about them, send me a message at even try to use my email to spam, sign me up for random magazines or services, or otherwise annoy and/or prank me. It won't work. I'll just ignore you and it.


	5. Chapter IV: A Meeting Of Minds

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update... For **EXTREMELY** important personal reasons (namely, I'm a lazy bastard) I have been unable to type (and yet I have been able to beat Final Fantasy Tactics (For the fifth time, and counting ( I am NOT addicted, I swear!))... and SMBB... and most of Timeshift...) and as such have been unable to update. And now that the EXTREMELY important personal reasons are dealt with (finally made myself sit down and write this) I am going to try and update considerably more often. Also, some of you may notice that I have published another fanfic... God'slayer and the Cursed Mage will be updated at the same fast (yeah, right) pace as this one!

Anyway. I am trying to improve how I write, type, whatever, and will try to be more descriptive. I will try to explain a bit more about Kanos, the Nexus Points, and the very confusing conversation. My next update will be a fight scene. Also, I have discovered that the scene changes, which I had intended to mark with a series of asterisks, is not showing up. I do not know why, but if you have any ideas, please, tell me.

Another error I have found has been the OC Elites. Due to a slight mix-up, both Talo Manalar and Tero Manalar have been given the same last name. As such, Tero Manalar (the traitor) has been renamed Tero Felamar.

By the way, can you guess what a 'Reality' Kanos describes is, before the his second-to-final line, which Cortana will completely fail to understand the importance of?

I removed the Change idea, that gave each char a personality quirk. I decided it was too inconvenient to the plot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, any Halo characters, but I do own some strawberry ice cream, apparently.

Oh, and I'll try to add a bit more 'funny.'

On to the fic!

Wrath of the Black Flame

Chapter IV

A Meeting Of Minds

_Titan Mainframe, Reality: SciFi-Halo-Earth-712, 41 days prior to Second Betrayal_

Cortana was 'sitting,' or at least the digital equivalent of the action, puzzled over a frustrating problem. She had finally found a security system that she could not crack. She had to, grudgingly, admit, it was an extremely complex system. She honestly did not know if she could crack it. The folder was the only thing locked in the archive, but it was massive. From the looks of it, the titans had protected most of their info in this file, but left bits outside. Why had they done that?

As for the security system, it seemed simple. It was a password, but there was a strange block of data that looked... corrupted, or fragmented. Was that part of the lock? If it was, this would be hopeless. She had no idea how to work this out...

She felt another presence in the system, perhaps another AI? That would explain the block of data, but it would either have to be replaced constantly, making the data block inefficient, or, improbably, be far older. Such things were possible, she knew, but human AIs burned themselves out after a period of around seven years. They essentially thought themselves to death (I forget how the book "First Strike" explained it, all that I know is, that's how they "die." If you know, tell me and I'll edit this to include it.). If this presence had managed to survive so long, it meant that titan technology was far superior to humanity, but if it was, why would they be using human file systems?

She lost 'sight' of the entity for a few moments. Suddenly, it was right beside her.

"Looking for something specific?" it said. It had chosen the image of a thin, tall, almost-but-not-quite human wearing a long black robe, with, oddly enough, a necklace with a cross on it.. It -he, she corrected herself,- had void-black hair drawn into a tail behind him. He also had strange, glowing, steely colored eyes. What was strange about them was not their color, but that most AIs she had seen did not put that much detail into such avatars. While he appeared close to human, his face and muscle structure were off. His face was the more obvious difference. His cheekbones were too pronounced, giving him a gaunt look, and he had no nose or mouth. His muscle structure, on the other hand, was subtly... wrong.

"My name is Kanos. I am the resident archivist." He eyed the file, and his eyes flashed slightly. "I see you have an interest in literature, as you happen to have a copy of Dante's _Inferno_."

"If this is a copy of Dante's _Inferno_, why is it so massive?" responded Cortana, skeptically.

"That copy of the _Inferno_ also contains all of the notes that my fellow titans and I have added over ten millenia," Kanos said, "and also contains a list of demons we have encountered so far. Before you ask, yes, there are demons. We have fought them, and I have personally slain 47,912 in my career."

"If you were looking for information about Darakathos, or the other titans, you should ask next time. We don't keep important information aboard the _Rakothan_. Lord Aulianas Darakathos has decided to give you humans a chance, at the very least, and has granted you access to Tier 2 information. Don't really pay attention to Tier 1 info, it's mostly misinformation. We're cautious to the point of paranoia."

"Alright... how have you met humans, before?"

"Exact details are Tier 4, madam, but I can tell you about the Realities. Mostly because it'll distract you, and hopefully you will forget, or lose interest, in the previous line of query before we are done. Needless to say, this is going to take a while. How much do you know about your Reality?"

_My Reality_, she thought, _does he mean that there are multiple realities?_

"My reality... it is very hard to define such a thing, given that I have nothing to compare it to."

His eyes flashed for a moment. _Is that their equivalent to smiling, or glaring?_

"I can understand your perspective. For a long time, I thought the same way. One reality, one existence, one self. The truth is, very few things are truly unique. Are you aware of a theory common amongst certain tales of Ancient Terra, or Earth, as you call it? It was said, in these stories, that every thought, every idea, created an alternate reality, in which the thought were true. For instance, there was a company called Bungie. They made many 'video games.' I am unsure if you still have them. Do you?:

"We still have video games, yes, though a good amount of information concerning Earth's economic past has been lost in several wars. There are no records of this 'Bungie.'" Cortana said.

"Hm. Shame. The idea is: All of those games, all of those ideas, created separate realities. In each of these realities, the characters in the game existed. They did not know of the truth, although some do now. Well call these separate realities, imaginatively enough, Realities. We travel through the realities constantly. In fact, the Rakothan is not a 'fortress' as many of you believe. It isn't even the largest ship in the fleet. It is called a Gateship. It opens portals in between Realities, that we can use to move from one to the next. These portals, called Rifts, move through both space and time. This allows us to go to Realities created with the past in mind. Or the far future.

Another thing about these Realities: Every character, in every game, in every Reality, is present in some form in all Realities that can fit them. We have encountered ourselves in many of them, in different forms, different roles, different lives. The names stay similar, if not the same, and the personality rarely change. I have met myself as a medieval knight, a scholar, a conquerer, you name it, I've been it.

I have even met you, before. And your friend, the Master Chief. In most Realities, he is either a quiet farmer, or a powerful leader. You are almost always an intelligent woman, a hacker, a scholar, an Inquisitor, hells, in one you're the ruler of the universe. Unfortunately, you died soon after in a universe-encompassing explosion that ripped every planet to shreds. By the way, you caused that one. Don't ask."

"How did I-"

"You searched for an alternative source of power and wound up overloading every star in the universe. I said don't ask.

"Anyway, omnicides aside, every Reality is slightly different, though large numbers of them are created of the same idea. Basically, this means that in one Reality, you might stop the Halo Rings. In another, the Master Chief accidentally triggered them in a freak accident involving bananas and Grunts.

This is yet another 'Don't Ask' moment. Still a little disturbed about it... so many tangerines... so much blood... and when the Brutes showed up...

"Ah, but I digress. Pretty much, all Realities are the same basic idea, but most have a different ending, or personalities in the entities. Sometimes these Ideas are remakes of already existing Ideas. These tend to be made for a specific purpose, to entertain by 'humor', or 'romantic' revisionings of the stories. You wouldn't believe how many there are in which there is a romantic relationship between you and the 'Master Chief.' There are also a lot of Arbiter/Master Chief romances... these disturb me on an elemental level..."

Cortana was still a little in shock over the Ideas concerning her and the Chief. Just a little.

"How the HELL does that make ANY sense?! I am a freaking AI CONSTRUCT, and HE is an ORGANIC life form! Seriously, who the #& thinks of these--"

Kanos had stopped paying attention to her rant at about the third syllable. He was much more concerned about how several Covenant ships had just arrived in the system, with a certain aesthetic design that caused him a small bit of alarm..

Kanos unleashed a long series of obscenities that caused any to hear them to catch on fire and be mauled by small, fuzzy squirrels.

Kanos turned back to Cortana, whose rant had been interrupted by spontaneous cybernetic combustion and having been mauled by small, fuzzy, electronic animals, don't ask, and said four small words.

"We have a problem."

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Just prior to the problem, Darakathos was holding a conference with the Humans, Elites, and several important Titanic leaders. John was a little surprised, and deeply troubled, to learn that Darakathos' was not the only Titan faction. If there were more factions, then there were more Titans. If there were more Titans, there was an even larger threat than he had anticipated. These 'Blackfire Titans,' had already shown vague hostility to the Human presence, but were seemingly content to wait and see what they would do.

He was holding the meeting in the war-room, as usual. It occurred to John that this was the only room he had seen so far. The Arbiter had taken a walk around, earlier, and a fanatic looking Elite had been sent to find him. The war-room was rather stark, with just a large table and wall hangings. Chairs had been added for the benefit of the Humans and Elites, but the Arbiter had declined. The table was round and made of metal, with dents near spots that certain Titans had taken, as if it were their usual place. The table had not really surprised him.

It had been surprised him to see that there was a large cross on one wall. It was more proof that they had encountered humans before, but had they assimilated a human religion, or was it just a coincidental banner?

The other Titan leaders were incredibly varied. When they had first strode into the chamber, in pairs, John had assumed that they were different species. There were seven in all, with three taking places at the table, and the other four hanging back just behind and to the left of those that they had walked in with, with one taking his place next to an empty spot. They must be bodyguards, John guessed.

Aulianas Darakathos was there, along with a titan named Rakithas. Darakathos was an... interesting... sight. He had a black cloak on, over a black breastplate and black greaves, with dark red trim. His hood was pulled back, revealing his face for the first time. It was long, and thin, with pronounced cheekbones, and he appeared to have no nose or mouth. He had a pair of clawed gauntlets on. Rakithas was wearing the same kind of outfit, but it was white instead of black, and his hood was pulled up, obscuring his face. He had a long-handled war hammer behind him, with a dark head and silver handle. Darakathos was tall and thin, but Rakithas was as tall, and considerably bulkier.

Then it got weird. Well, weird_er._

The first pair to walk in were humanoid, and appeared to be wearing full plate armor, like knights, with the helmet removed. They had longswords, increasing the knightly impression. That was where the similarity ended. They both were pale, and had long, loose silver hair. Their eyes were silver chased with black, and upon closer inspection, John found that they were not wearing plate armor. Instead, they seemed to have metal covering their bodies, almost naturally. Some form of natural armor? They had no mouths or noses. When they reached the table, a 3D image of a crossed trio of blades appeared in front of them, and a voice said "Lord-Aulianas Kaltanais, Lord of Ferrus Vitae, with Ancient-Guardian Telrinas, Lord of the Silver Blades." Kaltanais seemed not to like how he was named.

The second to enter was a single Titan, wearing a black cloak over silver plate armor. This time it was apparent that it was just a suit of armor. Oddly, he was wearing a cowboy-style hat, and his coat was a duster. He also had a black eyepatch, and had grey dreadlock style hair and a short goatee and mustache. He had a mouth and a nose. He wore a black-bladed greatsword across his back, and a pair of pistols were holstered at his side. As he passed the Ferrus Vitae, Kaltanais stiffened with barely suppressed rage, and looked down his nose at the newcomer. This was in itself a feat, as the newcomer was at least a foot taller. As he took his position, a profile of a diving steel falcon appeared, and the voice announced "Ancient-Guardian Maltias, Lord of the Striking Talon."

The final pair to enter were shocking, to say the least. Not even the presence of faceless medieval knights, and half-knight half-cowboys prepared him for the tall man exuding an aura of intense cold, and the massive skeleton walking in behind him. The humanoid figure had a long, very dark coat on. At first John thought it was black, but the light reflecting off it revealed it to be very dark green. He wore a white porcelain mask, with eyeholes and a tribal design etched in black. Even though he could not see the Titan's expression, John could somehow feel that when it looked at him, it was with... uninterest. The titan looked at him as if he were less important than the dents in the table.

John shook his head to clear it, and the feeling of unimportance faded slightly.

The titan took his place at the table, and the immense skeleton took it's place behind his shoulder. The skeleton was a strange sight. He was as large as a Hunter, and wore, oddly enough, dark green samurai armor. He had a large katana at his side, and he was helmetless. His face had no jaw, instead the face formed a point up to where a chin would be. As they stood, the voice came again, announcing the arrival of "Ancient-Deathlord Mortalitas, Aulianas of the Necris Vitae, and Bonelord Trakis, Lord of the Boneguard."

What have I gotten myself into? John thought. Wait, better question. What has Commander Keyes volunteered me for?

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The creature known as Tero Felamar was elated. His/It's master had commanded him/it to spy on the Sangheili and the Humans to see if they were a threat, and to sabotage this 'alliance' if they were. He/It had searched amongst the crew of the 'ambassador fleet,' and had found the perfect host. Tero Felamar had been full of hate and rage against the humans, and had seen them as how the Prophets had shown him: evil parasites, creatures no more deserving of life than the Flood.

It had found him, and it had taken root inside of him, waiting to reveal himself. It controlled him, but he was not entirely gone. He still jabbered in the back of their composite mind, consumed by the anger that had brought the blood-mind upon him. They were one now, complete and loyal to their master. They would do his will.

They were elated, because they had found the perfect way to eliminate both the Sangheili, and the Humans in one fell swoop.

They just needed time.

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Kaltanias was egotistical, incompetent, and disliked any challenge to his authority. So, when Lord Aulianas Darakathos just happened to 'forget' to invite him to the meeting, but had conveniently remembered to invite his guardian, he was just a little miffed. Just a little. And when Darakathos seemed to rub in the fact that almost every delegate but himself was an Ancient, he too just a little offense. Just a little.

This is, of course, 'just a little' as in comparison to 'it's just a little dragon.'

Darakathos had not actually intended to 'rub in' how almost every Titanic delegate was Ancient, it had just turned out that way. Of course, he hadn't invited Kaltanais anyway, so he didn't really feel that it was important to ensure that his feeling's weren't hurt. In truth, given how much Kaltanais had done to him and his family, Darakathos was contemplating killing him.

Kaltanais couldn't help but needle Darakathos a little.

"So, oh-so-great Lord Aulianas, you need the help of _humans?" _he said in in the Ferrus Vitae's personal language.

Darakathos glanced at him and blinked. "I happened to think they would be of more help than you would, oh-so-great Aulianas of the more deluded, or bound by unfortunate oath," he said this last part with a small nod to Telrinas, who reciprocated, "members of the Ferrus Vitae."

Kaltanais glared at the insolent Titan. "The fools who decided that I could not lead, and decided to form their own pathetic excuse for a Vitae, are nothing more than an annoyance, and were obviously the weaker and less intelligent Ferrus. Otherwise, they would have recognized my immense power and strategic skill."

Darakathos laughed.

"Would they, now? Please, you must remember that the only Titans under your command are the Highborn nobility," he said nobility with a slightly emphasis, his tone showing what he thought of that specific caste, "and the Orders, who only follow you because of outdated and inconvenient oaths, you vain charlatan."

"The Orders follow me because they see my wisdom, and know that fool Kanos is nothing more than an idiotic poser."

"Pagh. You were only deemed 'Aulianas' because you had the support of the Highborn. Why Alishandris didn't dispose of them while she had the chance, I'll never know."

Even John could see the intense anger in Darakathos's speech, and the slight catch before the name. What did this 'Kaltanais' have to do with this 'Alishandris,' and why would this anger him so deeply?

Unfortunately for Kaltanais, he did not see it. And very, very unfortunately for Kaltanais, he just had to push it just a little bit farther.

"Why that bleep! chose you when she could have had a titan like me, I will never know."

(and yes, I did censor it. If you don't like it, go read some other story.)

That was the final straw. Darakathos had been trying not to kill him, but then he had to go and call his rather dead wife a bleep!. It did not help that Kaltanais had caused that particular death, even if he did not know that everyone else, besides the humans and sangheili, knew of his involvement.

The room suddenly seemed to turn darker, and a change took hold of Darakathos.

Black lightning arced across Darakathos's form, and, for just a second, a shadow crossed him, seeming to give the image of thick, black, plate mail armor, with glowing blue lines, and braziers that burned with a dark blue flame. His eyes turned red, and in their depths you could see a creature made of sentient being's greatest fears, and the most intense hatreds.

He snapped something incoherent, and black lightning was hurled at Kaltanais, striking him in the chest. He was thrown against the far wall with enough force to dent the thick metal.

The shadow-Darakathos quickly glanced at Telrinas, and said a single sentence, one that did not make much sense to the dazed Kaltanais, in a deep voice that seemed to claw at John's soul.

"**End this farce**."

Telrinas strode over to Kaltanais's prone form, and put his blade to his throat. He spoke, for the first time that meeting.

"Kaltanais, formerly of the Ferrus Vitae, you are charged of conspiracy with the Crour pirates, conspiracy with the Plague, demonacy, consortion with demons, murder of an Ancient, consortion with an enemy of the Titanic culture as a whole, attempt to raise dead, failure to properly conceal espionage tactics, and being a complete and total bastard. How do you respond to these accusations?"

The beginning of Kaltanais's response was to begin swearing so heavily that Maltias had to reach down and punch him in the nose to get him to shut up. The end of his response was incoherent, as he had just been punched in the face by a very, very pissed off Maltias. It was not fun to be punched by a very, very pissed off Maltias.

Darakathos suddenly returned to normal, and collapsed onto the floor. John privately wondered how this could possibly get any worse or more confusing. And then instantly regretted the thought.

As if on some, unfortunate cue, a figure appeared on the table. John guessed that it was some kind of holographic display, like the Covenant sometimes used.

"Darak, we have a problem. 14 vessels have translated in-system, looks like Covenant. Darak... they're covered in bloodsigils."


	6. Chapter V: Raiding Party!

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to write this. Like it says on my last update, I've lost a bit of inspiration. On top of that, I never know how to start things. This update, in particular, was a bit difficult to write, as I had three half-considered and eventually discarded ideas. And, no, God'slayer is not discarded. I will continue it, eventually. I've also been distracted with finals in school. And, heh, I'll admit, not all my reasons are so... good-natured. I've been trying to get a Dark Knight in FFT: War of the Lions. Hey, it's not my fault! They shouldn't have made the job requirements nearly so... horrid.

Anyway, reasons aside, on to the fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo, yeah, yeah. If you've read the earlier ones, you'd know this. And it's a silly idea for me to own Halo anyway.

Wrath of the Black Flame

Chapter V

Raiding Party!

_Prosperity, Reality: SciFi-Halo-Earth-712, 7 hours after the events in the war room_

The day dawned on the planet. It was known by many names, Prosperity to the Sangheili and Humans who came to colonize it, and "That Thrice-damned Place Where Syrassaaan Is Hiding In His Blasted... And So On, And So Forth" to the Titans who originally found it.

It was also known as J'grki to the small species of alien on the surface, known as J'grkm, but they were crushed by falling drop pods. So, their opinion no longer truly matters.

The rather lethal drop pods in question were, in fact, several different kinds. There were purple, sleek drop pods, filled with Sangheili and a couple of Lekgolo. There were green, bulky drop pods, filled with human Marines, the Master Chief, and an Engineer who had been trying to fix the drop pod's "broken" nav system when it was launched. Fortunately, this drop pod landed in a tree, breaking it's fall, and crushing the few remaining J'grkm. It then exploded for reasons unknown to any but those J'grkm, who had been working on making something called 'black powder.'

The last few drop pods that fell were not as smooth, and not as blocky. Instead, they were reminiscent of large, black, diamond shards, so black they hurt to look upon, and so jagged that they ripped through the foliage of the trees, shredding holes directly through the canopy without slowing down. In sync, a section of each pod slid away, revealing a tall, thin Titan, of the kind referred to as Assassin Titans, aligned with the Blackfire Titans. They were followed by larger pods, which looked like large cubes. From these came the Destroyer classes, aligned with the Ferrus Vitae.

Moments later, the sky was filled with shiny silver, dark green, and white silver drop pods. The coalition of the Ferrus, the Mortis, the Blackfire, and the Humans and Sangheili, had arrived on Prosperity. And their leader was pissed off.

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_Prosperity, Reality: SciFi-Halo-Earth-712, during Event: Warroom Negotiation_

I pick myself up off the floor of the war room. I have to remember to ask someone to sweep it...

I feel a bit groggy. I can't quite remember what's happened... I must've 'gone Shadow' for a moment. It's been happening a lot since Alishandris's death...

That thought snaps my memory back into perspective. Yeah, definitely Shadowed. That bastard made a rather rude comment about her. Judging from the repeated blows from Maltias and Telrinas to Kalty's face, he might have insulted their mothers, again.

Man, he's an idiot.

Wait, did Kanos just say something about Covenant ships?

Ah, hell. Again with these... wait... bloodsigils?

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Several light-hours away, fourteen formerly Covenant ships translated in-system. They were led by a Brute Ship Captain by the name of Cerberus. His flagship was a heavily modified carrier, the _Malicious Soul, _and boasted enough firepower to carve his name into a planet.

Despite his protests to the contrary, he was in fact compensating for something.

This made him slightly pissed. Unfortunately, 'slightly pissed' was when Cerberus began burning his name into planets. It really, really didn't help that the bloodsigils on his ship emitted a slight reverberation through the walls, with a sound like tinnitus... and if you listened closely, you could hear whispering of dark promises and evil bargains.

Or, at least, that's what he thought they were. You see, each bloodsigil is, essentially, a bound soul that had struck a bargain with one of Syrassaaan's mages, and found out the hard way that 'eternal life' was entirely different than what they thought. He also gave them each a taco, but, hey, he was an insane megalomaniac.

What the bloodsigils were really doing was communicating with each other. They watched the inhabitants of the ship, through the ship's security system. Since they were damned for all eternity to be watching these people, they might as well do something. They had a new form of entertainment at the moment: actually real 'reality TV.' They even tried to change the outcome by pulling small pranks. They were part of the ship, so they started setting off random fire alarms, changing the temperatures and timers on the ovens to ruin the food, jettisoning random Brutes out of airlocks, changing the channel on the TVs when no one was looking, stuff like that.

They even had a pool going as to who would die first, who would finally realize the ship was possessed, (they jettisoned those out the airlock. Hey, if anyone told what was going on, it would ruin the fun.) or would the Brute Ragnarök finally confess his love for the Grunt Watam.

(I have no idea how the Grunts and Brutes choose their names, so I just used what I knew, based on Tartarus and Yayap.)

They were currently trying to figure out how long it would take for Cerberus to go insane from the constant humming.

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The Covenant fleet looks decently small... just a pair of destroyers, looks like a carrier or two, with several escort frigates and and three transports. There's also a flagship, and a very large, probably custom ship floating in the middle. That's likely to be their command ship, given that it's the heaviest.

Unless, of course, they were being smart and put their commander in a frigate to stay behind. This way, he could control the battle, while still being able to 'slip out' at any time to warn his superiors if we show too much power.

I've got one Ultimus Cannon on this ship,and several fire batteries, meant to take on opponents at a range shorter than they can fire on me.

Eh, they don't stand a chance.

I turn to Rakithas. "Rak, get twelve Titans ready. I don't care what faction, just so long as they stand a decent chance inside one of those things. Standard torpedo action, I want those vessels crippled ASAP. Have them launch at all but the flagship and the heavy custom. Tell them to expect heavy resistance, looks like Neo-Covenant troops, but with Cruor support. I'll take the last one myself."

Rakithas nods, and heads out the door to do my bidding. Have you ever thought about that word, bidding? It's kind of funny.

Anyway, I'd best get ready. Damn, but I would feel sorry for those alien bastards. But then I remember that they're trying to kill my Titans and blow up my ship.

Okay, no pity for them.

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Cerberus shifted slightly in his command seat. The urge to spill blood was becoming too much to resist. He began to wish that the enemy would just send a fleet so he could smash it, smash _something_ already!

He was getting angry at their apparent reluctance to fight when Ragnarök, his tactical officer, spoke up. "Chieftain! There is an energy buildup inside the fortress, and they appear to have launched close to eight dozen small objects at us!"

Cerberus snapped back to his senses immediately. "Ragnarok, how fast are the objects moving?"

"Fast enough that they'll reach us in a few minutes, but slow enough that they shouldn't damage our hull, Chieftain."

Cerberus thought about this a moment. "Fine. I want every ship to pull all power to engines and shields. The objects must be a diversion, and I doubt that energy is going into their shields. Given how little it is, it'll damage a ship pretty lightly, but I want it targeting something other than me. Relay that, but leave out the last part."

"Yes, Chieftain."

He thought he had made a good tactical decision. He was very, very wrong.

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Titanic technology is, in fact, very different from anything the Humans and Sangheili had encountered. While Sangheili tech was based around Forerunner, which was, in turn, based around a hard metal and plasma, and Human tech was based on how much force could be applied using a metal slug, and how to best stop that slug from harming himself, Blackfire Titan tech was based around dakarys, a black crystal with amazing energy storing properties. A fully charged crystal started to glow, and you could power a small city with a charged dakarys crystal the size of a fist. Another note was that it gave off very little of this energy, so that the aforementioned crystal would give off the energy signature of a car battery.

Also, when comparing an energy buildup from a single plasma torpedo, it would take a dakarys crystal the size of a small ship to give off that kind of reading.

Unfortunately for Cerberus, an Ultimus Cannon was, in fact, the size of a small ship.

And it wasn't the major threat.

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As Cerberus, who had in fact been smart enough to relocate to his flagship, watched, an eneormus energy beam sliced through space, smashing against his heavy custom's shield. It was an impressive attack, but his shields were holding.

"If that is all they have, then we have already won! They have a weak cannon and a pair of small ships. Easy prey!"

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As I watch, the beam slams ineffectually into their shield. I send a small, uncoded signal to the Rakothan. I want the Brutes to hear this.

"Kanos, focus the beam. Code:_ intensify the forward firepower_."

The beam focuses itself into a single line, easily penetrating the ship's shields. It rips apart their engines, and carves a single word into the hull.

Pwnd.

"Kanos, stop showing off."

Kanos responds through the torpedo's vox. "And here I thought that was the point of a distraction?"

The real threat was the fourteen Titans, including Darakathos, who were inside torpedos heading straight for the enemy fleet. One Titan, one ship.

The rest of the torpedos were empty, in case Cerberus wised up and used his close-range anti-fighter armaments. Which, of course, he didn't.

But hey, he wasn't hired for his skill.

Actually, he was hired because Syrassaaan liked his hair.

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In near unison, fourteen boarding torpedos impact on their designated ships. Each torpedo began burning and boring it's way into hull of it's victim, before releasing it's cargo.

"This is Darakathos. I'm in. Heavy custom, _Malicious Soul_. Stat check."

"Maltias, I'm in. Looks like a cruiser, called the _Souls' Doom_."

"Rakithas, I'm in. I hit the flagship, looks like it's called the _Black Sky_."

"Darantith, I'm in, carrier _Demon's Reign_."

"Markalitis, I'm in. Frigate _Blood and Fire."_

"Mortalitas, I'm in. Carrier _Fury of Hell_."

"Telrinas. My boarder's just hit, I'll be in soon. Cruiser _Gold's Beckon_."

"Trakis. In. Frigate _Hi My Name Is Cerberus And I'm An Old Pervert_."

...

"Is that really it's name?"

"Sadly, yes."

...

"Moving on. Galintoth, report."

"Im in, frigate _Fang of the Darkest Night_."

"Neros, Destroyer _Bloodmage."_

"Scourge here, Carrier _Crushing Darkness_."

"Scythe here, Destroyer _Sword of the Fallen_."

"Good. How's the transport?"

It is a few seconds before the response comes. "This is the transport _Spirit_, about to board the destroyer Blood and Tragedy. I just hope your plan works and we aren't blown out of the sky."

"Oh, don't worry _Spirit_. If our plan fails we're dead anyway."

"Gee, thanks... That's reassuring."

I smile. "Alright, let's move! Last one to cripple their ship has to buy a round!"


	7. Chapter VI: And People Say

A/N: Alright, let's see if I can pull this one off. I am aware that I made a mistake in the fleet composition, as I accidentally listed different ships on the second listing. I will fix it later, right as soon as I figure out how. By the way, review with your opinion: the past tense of previous chapters, or the present tense as introduced in Corruption: Seven Sins, or this chapter?

Halo

Wrath of the Black Flame

Chapter VI

And People Say I Have Problems

There are a pair of Brutes staring at my boarding torpedo. They're trying to figure out what it is. It seems like a munition, but if it was, why wasn't it exploding or something along those lines. I smile, this part is always fun.

As the point unfolds, like a flower, I burst from the center, like that grenade that always seems to go off just as you notice it. What is it called? A flashbang? Nasty things. Anyway, as I land on the wall (my torpedo hit parallel to the floor) I leap at them. The last thing they see is a black shadow, before my forearm blades enter their chests.

I love those things.

As I rise from the crouch I landed in, I take out my comms set. It's a battlefield tradition amongst Titans. On solo missions such as these, ans sometimes in team based, we put our own music on, give the mission a bit of a theme. To be honest, it inspires my to more dramatic things. Rock/Metal is good for this kind of op.

"Getting Away With Murder" by Papa Roach. Nice.

I walk down the hallway, nonchalantly, to a door. Or at least, I think it's a door. I don't know, I've seen three different kinds of them, and they swapped them around. Damnit, a little consistency would be nice.

I activate the Blacksight, a neat little ability. It allows me to see certain things, including the fact that there are four Brutes behind the door, leveling Brute Plasma Rifles at it. Funny, I thought those were discontinued.

I smile. They must have some kind of surveillance... so let's give hem something to survey. I 'slip' my way past the door, behind the Brutes. Slipping is a very fun ability. It lets me 'teleport' a good distance, with no flare, sound, or any other sensory signal.

The Brutes continue to aim at the door, one shifts uneasily. Here's where the fun really begins.

Each Lord Aulianas receives a unique power on their ascension. No one knows why, or how, but it happens. Mortalitas's was an aura, one which spread dread into his enemies. Kanos's was the ability to control machinery, which he has put to good use so far. Alishandris... Alishandis's was a pair of wings, which gave her flight, and the ability to radiate brilliant light.

The thought of Alishandris drives me into a short rage, just in time as the group of Brutes notice me. I slowly turn, and somewhere in my mind I link them to Syrassaaan. My glare causes one to flinch, and I slip in and out in the room. I can feel myself going Shadow, but I reel myself in and leap at the Brutes. They open fire with Spikers, but I twist out of the way, landing in front of the lead Brute. I reach up with a blade, slicing his arm from his body. I kick him, knocking another Brute over with his body. I spin, decapitating one and lashing out with my foot to crack another in the throat. The final Brute barely has time to shout before my blades thud through his heart.

I bring my mind back into focus. As I was saying, everyone's abilities were rather powerful. All Lords have a psychic power, which we call psyk. I have telekinesis, among other things.

A patrol of Brutes and Grunts discover this the hard way, as I slip behind them, facing away, and create pockets of empty space in their nervous system. They twitch, and the subconscious order to live is never received. They die, instantly. I hope someone is watching. I'm still a little pissed, and the music inspires me to be a bit more dramatic.

I turn around and look at the room I have found myself in. It is a wide hangar, with a pair of curved, purple blue tanks. What did they call them? Wraiths?

An idea strikes me, and I remember yet another reason why I love being made of an energy-storing crystal.

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Rakithas dropped from his torpedo. It had penetrated at a strange angle, so that it was inside the ceiling. As he did, he saw that there were no alarms of any sort going off. He heard the sound of the bloodsigils, but knew from long experience that they rarely gave away the position of the Titans. They wanted the ships destroyed, so that they could finally end.

As he looked around the hall, he noticed that there were two doors, one to the right, one to the left.

He pulled up the digital map in his helmet. The door to the right would take him to the mess hall, through a chamber with no apparent purpose, through a few corridors, and then, eventually, to the bridge.

He might as well get started. He strode to the right door. He took one look at it, and decided to pull a risky stunt. He unslung his Warhammer, and then was struck by a thought.

How could he forget? He pulled up the music log in his HUD, and selected Disturbed, the Indestructible album. He drew back the hammer, and swung at the wall, denting it. After a while, he managed to create a decent hole. He stuck his fist inside, and grabbed some plasma wiring. He yanked it free, and there was an explosion of light, heat, and sound. It faded after a bit, and, as he had hoped, the power supply for the lights and security had been disconnected. He smiled, and walked back to the door. They undoubtedly had backup power, but it would take them a while to activate it.

There were undoubtedly several Brutes behind it. Even if they hadn't been warned beforehand, the ringing of his hammer on the wall would have brought them. He hammered the door, bending the thick metal. The Brutes on the other side staggered back, startled at sudden darkness of the lights cutting out, and the door bending inwards.

After a few more blows, Rakithas managed to break down the door. He hefted a chunk and threw it into the darkened room. He was rewarded with several blasphemous oaths and a cry of pain.

He charged into the room, shouting a battlecry.

"For my Father! Vengeance!"

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The Pelican transport _Spirit_, modified with new engines and a cloaking system, courtesy of the Blackfire Titans, flew straight into the hangar of the Destroyer _Blood and Torment_. The comms chatter had alerted the Brutes to their presence, but they couldn't find them with their cloaking on. They released several blood-colored Seraph fighters, just in time for the Pelican to take advantage of the hangar shield dropping.

That was part of Darakathos's plan.

As _Spirit_ landed, the group of Marines, Elites, the Master Chief and the Arbiter climbed out, hosing down the Grunts and Brute pilots with plasma and bullet fire.

John turned a comms unit in his hand, something the Titans had called a 'vox.' It was an archaic word for sound, but it was supposed to be superior to their comm system, allowing them to communicate in squad-based chatter without detection.

Darakathos had said to try uploading music over the squad com, in the background, saying that it usually helped the Titans. You just had to pay attention, and let yourself feel the music rather than listen, like ambient sound. He wasn't sure if it would work, but if it became a liability he could just pull it.

Cortana, who was back inside John's head, scrolled through the list of songs. She chose one that she thought fit.

The Faceless album, by Godsmack. Hm.

The Marines moved forward, letting the Elites take up the rear. They opened a door to find a pair of Hunters waiting for them. They wore red armor, with a glowing symbol etched into their faceplate. They seemed to be... bleeding. Orange blood seeped through their skin, but rather than weakening, they seemed to be getting stronger.

"Ah, crap." One of the Marines was just a little demoralized. The demoralization was short lived, however, as a Marine shot one in the lower unprotected area, with a Jackhammer. The Hunter stumbled, wounded but still alive. It took another rocket to the leg, and still came at the group, limping slightly. John stuck it with a plasma grenade, right on the sigil. The grenade detonated, destroying the sigil. With the loss of it's source of life, it succumbed to it's wounds, letting out a low moan like a wounded beast.

The other Hunter saw the death of it's mate, and turned to the Marines and Elites in the hangar, letting out a loud roar and charging. As the Hunter entered the open space, several Elites charged at it from behind, slicing into it with their energy blades.

The Hunter died, just shy of killing the Rocket marine with it's shield.

John was worried, once again. If small symbols on their foreheads could cause Hunters to take rockets and get away with a limp, they were in deep trouble.

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The Master of the ship Malicious Soul, one Sycarus, hated Cerberus at that moment. Deeply, deeply hated him. He had abandoned Sycarus on the vessel, claiming that 'it was an honor to pilot his flagship,' when, in fact, he knew that it was nothing more than a suicide posting. The fact that a torpedo had just opened and something was killing a considerable amount of his crew did not help.

Said mass killer and generally scary, reality-defying being was walking through a mess hall at the moment, where he was about to get a very nasty surprise.

Sycarus smiled.

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I pause for a moment, something telling me that this is, in fact, a trap.

My foresight is rewarded by three pairs of possessed Hunters charging into the room. Two level their cannons at me, while the others try to get into melee range. I don't give them the chance.

Like I said, I had fun with the Wraiths.

As they approach, I let all of the power I drew from the Wraiths' cannons loose in a burst of plasma carnage. I love my job.

As bits of charred Hunter rain around the mess hall, I turn towards the pair with the cannons, and charge straight at them. They respond by lowering their guns, and charging at me in kind. As they get into range, one swipes at my with it's shield in a low diagonal slash, while the other tries to shoulder me.

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Sycarus's eyes flew wide in shock. Somehow, the demon, as he was sure it was, caused a plasma explosion, killing two of his Hunter bodyguard. He then charged the remaining two, and jumped over them. Suddenly, the demon paused, and the room darkened.. Sycarus thought he saw a flash of red from the creature's hood, like a flash of red eyes.

This was really, really not good.

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I feel myself going Shadow...

And this time I let it free.

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The air crackled around the mess hall, and the room seemed to dim, as if something was draining the light. The Hunters spun around, and saw something that gave even them pause.

The demon had changed, it's black cloak gone, replaced by a heavy, black suit of spiked, archaic armor, like some form of dark knight. There were chains around the armor, as if it had been bound. A pair of these chains looped around the shoulderguards and fell, ending in a pair of braziers, burning with blue fire. Though they could not see it, the Hunters knew that it seemed to radiate malevolence and fear. The hood had remained, and now, where before they could 'see' only shadow, there were a pair of burning blue eyes, as if they were on demonic fire. Bluish-grey smoke rose from those eyes, and as a Hunter sensed them, it knew that it was completely and totally... well, you get the idea.

A pair of black, crystalline wings burst from it's back, and it rose from the floor without moving them. Black lightning arced across it's form, hitting the floor and spreading out.

_What is this demon?_ Thought one of the Hunters.

As if it heard it's thoughts, the figure turned to it, and spoke in a voice that clawed at their souls.

"**I AM. THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS, XENO."**

The Hunter's next, and last, thought was a stream of expletives that would've made the Arbiter flinch.

The last thing to go through it's head was it's own shield.

The other Hunter 'saw' it's mate be slain by it's own shield, and rage gripped it. It charged at the creature, but the black lightning arced out and gripped a table. The demon glanced at it, and then glanced at the Hunter. The table flew straight at it, colliding with it with enough force to smash it against the wall. It remained pinned there, slowly being crushed.

The demon rotated in place, staring at the wall separating the mess hall from the corridor, down which lay the bridge.

The black lightning arced across the wall, and the wall tore open. He floated through the rent, and the Hunter died as the table finally crushed it to death.


End file.
